Meaning of the Blues: The Legacy of Paul Oliver 1927-2017

by Various Artists

The late Paul Oliver (1927-2017) spent a great deal of his adult life researching and writing about the blues. In a literary career that spanned more than half a century, Oliver wrote ten books about various aspects of the blues, with the emphasis on the artists who recorded, and the music they made, from the mid-1920s to the outbreak of World War Two. In 1960 Oliver's second book "Blues Fell This Morning" set the benchmark for all subsequent blues literature. It's still universally acclaimed to this day and has been in print ever since. Like many of Oliver's subsequent books, "Blues Fell This Morning" was accompanied by a companion vinyl album of the same title. It's original release was greeted with the same degree of enthusiasm as the book. Many of the artists it featured had long been forgotten by all but a few. Some remain virtually or completely unknown to this day. In tribute to Oliver, Jasmine has proudly reissued the original album, in it's original running order, as the first part of "The Meaning Of The Blues". This collection is completed by the majority of the tracks originally featured on the album that accompanied the publication of Oliver's third blues book, "Screening The Blues", in 1968 (time restrictions for a CD prevented all of them being included). None of the recordings in this collection had ever been reissued prior to the release of the two original albums. Some of them have never been reissued since - until now. Either as an accompaniment to Oliver's books or as a stand-alone gathering of early black American music, "The Meaning Of The Blues" is an essential and enlightening collection in every way. As an audio tribute to the man who pioneered blues writing in such an authoritative manner, it could hardly be bettered.